Home > Consumer Reviews > Navman iCN 635 64MB GPS with 128 MB Secure Digital Memoryd

I have had an ICN630 for 3 years that worked flawlessly then broke. I was going on a trip and couldn't wait for two weeks to have the old model repaired so I bought a new ICN635 (current model). It worked well for one day. Four hours into the trip it failed. After trying many things and speaking with Navman they decided that it was the portable cord. They told me it was unavailable from anyone but them and that when they had a supply problem last year (2004) there was no other source. They sent a new cord. While I waited for the new cord I left the unit running on the 110 volt power source (not much good unless you have about a 50 mile long extension cord--I did so just to be sure that the unit itself was O.K.) I received the replacement cord, plugged the unit in and . . . . . . it ran for about 5 seconds and turned off. I tried this several times--first in a 2005 Mercedes then in a 2004 Cadillac--I suspect that the problem lies with Navman and not with the cars.

Navman support had suggested that I buy a 12 volt to 110 volt inverter from Radio Shack as a backup for their equipment cord--I guess that would be not unlike trailering a spare car in case your primary vehicle breaks down.

All of the above said, the Navman ICN630 was great while it worked and the ICN635 was even better. However, a navigation system that works sporadically or not at all is worse than none at all. On the bright side, when the ICN630 was working, I used it in my 2002 Mercedes S class instead of the factory installed system--simply, the Navman system covered much more territory than the factory installed system.

I'm hooked on GPS having used it for three years but can't recommend a product that fails (the old ICN630) or a product that fails right out-of-the-box (the new ICN635) and that continues to fail after receiving the "repair". At this point I'll have to look at Garmin or Magellan because who wants to be stranded again in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. as I was when this product failed.

I have been using the Navman 635 for about a week now and have found that it has lots of thoughtful features, but I have a mild concern about the maps.

Probably the one real concern that I have with this is that the maps are a little out of date. I live in the Boston area and can accept the fact that with the Big Dig, many of the highway access roads and traffic patterns are changing on an almost daily basis. However, the maps that came with the unit aren't recognizing roads that have been around for at least 4+ years. Every time I drive over a particular bridge it wants me to turn right -- off the bridge and into the water!! It also can't seem to tell the difference between two roads that run fairly close and parallel. (For those of you who know Boston -- Beacon Street and Storrow Drive) It also tried to get me to turn down a one way street, the wrong way.

The good about the 635:
If you get off the calculated route, it quickly recalculates your route.

I have had success getting a signal in most areas of Boston. I have not tested this around the "skyscrapers" in the financial district.

The favorites menu and the trip planner have made my life easier as I program different destinations while inside the house and just turn it on in the car and go.

I think the remote control will be helpful if I ever remember to put it in the car.

The maps are easy to load onto and unload from the unit. I have done both. It does take a little time, but it is simple.

I am using a 512MB card and the maps seem to load, although it takes a while. Having said that, I haven't actually had to drive in the areas on that card so I don't know how smoothly it accesses them.

I learned the hard way to follow the directions about staying put while the GPS finds an initial lock. It took getting lost without a clue where I was to get me to pay attention to that direction.

The voice is clear and understandable. The directions are also clearly written on the screen.

The 3D view is great. Being someone who is directionally challenged, I like the fact that you can set the map view to always be from your perspective.

UPDATED:
PLease remember to remove this item from view when you aren't using it. They have become targets for thieves. My car was broken into and it was stolen.

I dont know about Navman's customer service because i never had any problem with my unit after using it for more than a year now.

I travel a lot and I use it everyday. I would say: for the price, this is the best GPS. I've tried some other products such as Tomtom (touch screen creates glare, looks ugly too), Magellan (too bulky, i dont like the maps, higher price).

I notice people complain about wrong directions or poor maps, well it's true with any GPS. The problem with some users is that as soon as they turn-on their GPS, they turn-off their logic.

I like this one and have no plans of replacing it.

Navman has let me down in the following ways:

1. customer service - empty promises, idiot support, and get this one... this is the best... a few times i called and their customer support line couldn't recieve calls becouse the freaken mailbox was full. YEA! Get that!!??? Navman's customer support voice mailbox was filled. No calls allowed for abotu one week. Idiots!!!


The maps are bad too. GPS doesn't hold position well with cloud cover.


They could easily improve the company if they replaced all personnel (developers, customer sup[port, admins) with chimps. WOuld be a much better company then.

Bottom line.... do not buy from this dump of a company!

Avoid Navman like the plague or leprocy!! Nothing good to say about this unit. Slow to acquire satelite. Also slow to adjust if get off course (tells you to turn left at an intersection after you are already in a different lane) making it hopeless on downtown city streets. Not user-friendly (not touch-screen) - have to "type" everything in perfectly or you won't find addresses and POIs. Speaking of points-of-interest, this unit has very few, and no way to search for POIs other than knowing the exact name of what you want - ex: no way to find the closest petrol station... must know the exact name and location - yeah right. POI is one of the great features of using a SatNat and this one is useless. Choose any SatNav other than this one! Have used both Tom Tom and Garmin and both are far superior - better to give one of these a go instead of the Navman, particularly a Garmin Nuvi model.